Stranger Than Fiction

[PopTodd]

Saw this flick last night. I liked it a lot. In fact, it sparked more conversation about what exactly was happening, than Inception did. More angles: not just what was real, and what was not, but also looking at it from a Judeo/Christian perspective and rumination on the power of prayer and the nature of self-determination. (If you don't call talking directly to your creator a "prayer", then I don't know what it is.) I loved this movie.

And, I was surprised that Ferrell was able to flash some true acting chops and hold his own agains Hoffman and Thompson.

 

Also, something I didn't expect was the fact that the soundtrack was so great: lots of Spoon. And, in a pivotal scene, Will Ferrell plays, and sings a Wreckless Eric song himself.

 

(PS - I did a search and saw it mentioned around here a couple of times, but never discussed. Plus, you know... that soundtrack thing is what I really came here to say.)

[augurus]

Will Ferrell did an amazing job not being himself. I really enjoyed the film.

[u2roolz]

I seem to remember not really liking this film. I remember seeing the same trailers for it, since May of that year (2006) and the film came out in November. Sony Pictures is notorious for doing this. They did the same thing with Salt (same trailer since last holiday season of 2009) which I hated, but I'll get into that if need be. Bite size review of Salt: It didn't bring anything new to the table, in fact, it was a setback for the spy on the run thriller. The villains were Russian. At least Knight & Day, Wanted and Mr. & Mrs. Smith had something fresh and original to them. Plus, I would have liked to see someone other than Angelina in that role. Of course, how unbelievable that film is would have been tough to let some actress you're not used to seeing in that type of role work. If they reined in that factor and offered the role to a Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, Emily Blunt, Siena Miller, Rachel Nichols (not ESPN woman) or Jennifer Garner, I would have liked it more.

 

I feel like Will Ferrell acted like the Will Ferrell that we know earlier on in the film and it was tough for him to recover from that. I'm also talking about a film that I haven't seen in 4 years, so my mind is a bit foggy. I do know that I don't really like some of what the director has done since this one. I never saw The Kite Runner, but I really didn't like Quantum Of Solace which he ruined by not being an action director at all. The action scenes were cut quicker than a white guy in a dark alley. And the script was incomprehensible. I did like the interactions between Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton. Now that MGM is near bankruptcy we don't know when we'll see 007 again.

 

Back on topic: I felt that the film was ok. I liked the concept, but not the execution so much. I am willing to DVR this on tv to watch it again.

[dagwave]

Bite size review of Salt: It didn't bring anything new to the table

 

 

thats some funny stuff.....

[augurus]

I feel like Will Ferrell acted like the Will Ferrell that we know earlier on in the film and it was tough for him to recover from that. I'm also talking about a film that I haven't seen in 4 years, so my mind is a bit foggy.

Will Ferrell was not himself. He was not overplaying nor exaggerating his stupidity. He didn't start any of his stupid in your face exaggerations. He stuck to his role and added punch when required. He didn't get typecasted. He reserved the urge to insert over-the-top innuendos, shout at the top of his lungs whenever he wanted, act stupidly, and exaggerate.

 

I think you need to go back and watch this film if you're going to,... talk about it.

[u2roolz]

I seem to remember him doing exactly what you said that he didn't. I remember him screaming at the sky in that whiney man-child voice of his to "Shut up! No I'm not! I'm cursing you you stupid voice so shut up and leave me alone! ". I know this for a fact because it was used in the trailer probably to sell tickets to those who were a bit skeptical about seeing this. And this little clip also garnered the most laughs during the trailer when it was shown back then. (Edit: Sure, that may be the only instance in the film, but if like you say he is very calm and reserved then it feels like a bit of a jump for his character to do this. At the time it felt like Sony Pictures pressuring Marc Forster to have a "Will Ferrell" moment, so that they could get a strong opening weekend and then see what happens on the word of mouth.

 

Anyways, I rented the film from the library the other day.....to talk about it.

 

Not many people get 2nd chances, Mr. Ferrell.

[welch79]

i liked this film, and i like the man-child will ferrell stuff too (i could watch step brothers on repeat for 24 hrs solid, i believe). but i thought he put that bit way for this film. yes, the soundtrack was great, and after seeing this film, of course the music struck me, so i checked out the soundtrack, and long story and run-on sentence short, it was my introduction to spoon (and now i own all their albums).

 

this thread makes me want to watch it again.

[u2roolz]

I enjoyed this film a lot more than when I saw it 4 years ago. Maybe I had "stick-in-my-ass" syndrome that plagues so many people across the world. That being said the film comes off as a bit underwhelming because it is so understated. Perhaps forgettable. But it really struck a chord with me watching it hours ago today on a rainy August day in New England.

 

A few of the problems that I had were in the beginning 30 minutes or so where the film had a tough time of trying to balance the tone of the film which seemed to keep seesawing. The big one that springs to mind is the scene where Harold Crick goes into Ana Pascal's bakery and she starts to scream at him and gets the whole place to scream in unison at him. This was a bit unbelievably absurd and strange and jarring to have in the 1st 20 minutes. Although, if you buy into the concept that our main character is hearing a narrator in his head then it seems smallish in comparison. The other big problem was the obvious mundane quality of Crick's life that made the film seem bland and kind of off putting for the 1st 30 minutes. Once Ana comes onto the screen, she is like a breath of fresh air that I want to breathe in and eat her cookies.

 

I loved all of the scenes between Crick and Dustin Hoffman. Ferrell & Gyllenhaal had quite amazing chemistry. Overall, the film feels very anachronistic in terms of not feeling like an 00s film. In fact, the film doesn't feel like a studio picture of late at all. It has the mood, feel and vibe of an "indie". I'd compare it to The Truman Show and what that did for Jim Carrey, if someone had a gun to my head and asked for my opinion on a comparison. In terms of certain similar themes, I'd say that isn't that bad of a comparison. It also brought to mind Woody Allen's severely underrated Melinda & Melinda where the main push of that film was watching it unfold simultaneously as a tragedy & comedy.

 

Edit: Oh, and I still stick to my above statement about Will Ferrell breaking out into his "persona" during his scenes where he screams into the sky. It felt a little bit out of character for Harold Crick. Although, if I had the same problem I would probably scream too. But it still feels like a bit of a conspiracy to have these bits in there to use in the trailer to sell the film as a typical Will Ferrell vehicle.